Body hair at undesirable locations on the human body has been a source of embarrassment and concern to women throughout the ages. Cream depilatory agents are widely used despite their unpleasantness of their use, and the skin irritation that they often produce. Melted wax is also applied to the skin for this purpose.
There are known both manually operated and power driven mechanical depilatory devices. One type of manually operated device, exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,458,911; 2,486,616 and 1,743,590 and Swiss Pat. No. 268,696, employs a coil spring which engages hairs in spaces between the convolutions thereof and pulls the hair away from the skin as the spaces between the convolutions are closed. The operation of this type of device may be characterized in that it is highly inefficient, slow and painful.
Power driven depilatory devices are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,661 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,741 of applicants herein. U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,661 describes a rotary drum having a wedge-like configuration for engagement with and removal of feathers, hairs and the like from poultry. U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,741 describes a hair plucking device employing an axially disposed helical spring which is simultaneously driven in axial rotation by an electric motor and reciprocatingly compressed and extended by a cam operated by the electric motor. This apparatus is relatively complex and costly and is not suited for home use.
In summary, the prior art mechanical depilatory apparatus does not include apparatus suitable for home use which provides efficient cosmetic hair removal. Simply stated, the analog to a man's electric razor for female hair removal at the root is not available. The widespread need for such appliance may be readily appreciated by considering the widespread advertising and sales of cream depilatories notwithstanding their acknowledged drawbacks.